I fell into the Drupal pool in July of 2008, almost immediately after receiving my B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Management of Information Systems from Oregon State University. I was a broke, non-traditional student, who had lost my entire technical writing career to international outsourcing.

I had a family of six to take care of, a wet degree, and a little bit of anxiety at being fresh out of school at 38 in a stagnant economy.

I was hired by Central Web Services of Oregon State University to develop and instruct a program centered around their Drupal 5 multi-site installation. I knew what Drupal was, but had no real history with it. I did have some limited experience with configuring and running phpBB3 installations, though, and an extensive background in both training development and technical writing. It was enough to get in me in the door, for which I am eternally grateful, as it has provided me with a great career and exposed me to the most dynamic, versatile, and richly diverse framework I could ever imagine.

It should be no surprise that the community reflects these same qualities.

I quickly grew enamored of both.

Since 2008, starting with Drupal 5 and evolving through Drupal 6 and 7, I’ve developed Drupal training programs that are provided year round to any member of the Oregon State University community – faculty, staff, or student – at no charge.

In addition to instructional design and training, I also consult our small, but effective, Drupal team with things such as back-end tool configuration, usability, functional / theme testing, and feature development.

Starting around 2013, my department spearheaded the OSU Drupal user community which includes not only campus members who use our centralized OSU Drupal distribution, but also a few university organizations who have their own Drupal distributions. From this, we've established dedicated user groups for Content Strategists, Site-Builders, and Developers, and regularly scheduled Open Labs that our whole department, along with our marketing team and other campus Drupal leaders, participate in to collaborate, train, and innovate with users of all skill levels.

To say that Drupal has changed my life is an understatement. Interestingly enough, it’s also changed some other lives that I’ve been involved with. Students that have been trained in Drupal by me have moved on to become college Drupal administrators, Drupal system administrators for large county networks, and developers for Drupal shops.

This community, and this framework, has impact in lives and economies. It creates bonds that extend beyond the "barriers" of national borderlines and language, and it continues to intrigue and amaze me every step of the way.

Pride Points

• 2012 Silver for our OSU College of Public Health site
• 2011 Grand Gold Communications Award from CASE District VIII for our OSU Home Page